Castle 5-4: Murder, He Wrote

A nice romantic getaway to the Hamptons. What could be better than that? Well, if you are Castle and Beckett, maybe a romantic getaway without a murder. But then where would the fun be for us?

I’ve got to admit, I wonder a bit about the setting. Yes, they’ve talked about Castle’s place in the Hamptons before. But since ABC’s hit show Revenge is set there, I’m wondering if there is a connection. I also wonder if last season’s fairy tale themed episode was inspired by Once Upon a Time. But those are minor points since both episodes were good in their own right.

And I have to give them early credit for the shout outs to the fans. First, there is the title of the episode and the mention of the classic show Murder, She Wrote. People were making comparisons to that show early on because of the writer solves murders premise. Plus, there’s the scene where Castle is trying to come up with a trendy couple name for them. After several bad attempts to combined their names, he comes up with – Caskett, the long used name in the fan community. Just fun little nods I really enjoyed.

This is also the season with the best used story arc so far. Usually, a story arc plays out over just a few episode over the course of a season. Here, they’ve been doing something with Castle and Beckett being together in every episode so far. They are really playing it for laughs, too, and I’m enjoying it. Of course, something this big really does need to play a part in so many episodes, at least at the beginning of the season. Still, I’m a bit surprised that another domino fell tonight. Just how long are they going to keep this secret relationship a secret?

But enough preamble; we’ve got a murder to solve.

While there are some fun scenes in New York before we get started, the mystery really begins after Beckett and Castle arrive at his place in the Hamptons. He’s showing her around, and she begins to wonder just how many other woman had gotten the tour she was getting. In a very sweet moment, Castle assures her that none of them compare to her. Beckett melts.

Later that evening, they are going to use his private pool. He’s already talked about how private his yard is. Beckett has just revealed that she has nothing on under her robe when a man who has been shot stumbles through the bushes and collapses in the pool. Castle turns to Beckett and says, “Call 911!” To which she replies, “You think.” I was already laughing.

The victim turned out to be a weekender. He was attending a party down the beach and was last seen arguing with a woman two hours before he died in Castle’s pool. The chief of police in the town didn’t know what to make of Beckett, especially since she seemed so reluctant to identify herself. In fact, he figures she’s a prostitute at this point. Anyway, they’ve found a meth head on the beach. (There has been a huge increase in drugs in the area recently.) This guy has the victim’s wallet on him. Case closed.

But Castle can’t let it go. He thinks the murder showed greater foresight than that. No one had heard a gun shot, so clearly a silencer was used. Beckett can see they won’t enjoy their weekend with all these questions in his mind, so she agrees to have him call Ryan and Esposito back in the city to work a bit of magic on their end – as long as they don’t know she’s with Castle.

Our victim was part of a Ponzi scheme, and he had turned state’s evidence on 5 other people to get out of jail. Those people had been released recently, which turns up 5 suspects right there. But the victim was also having an affair with the mayor of the Hamptons, and his wife back in the city had made him break it off. Guess who the mystery woman was he was fighting with just before he died.

The mayor also owns a local bar, and Beckett and Castle head out to get a drink. Castle’s clumsy interrogation gets them arrested for obstruction of justice when the chief sees what they are doing.

It’s then the chief learns the truth about who Beckett is and he finally admits he is in over his head. This is the first murder he’s had to investigate. In exchange for dropping the charges, he asks them to help him solve the case, something Beckett is reluctant to do. But he agrees to keep their names out of the investigation, so she gives in.

It has been discovered that the victim had salt water in his lungs. And when they ask the meth head if he saw anything, he tells them about a glowing red shark that attacked a boat. It sounds crazy, but there is a boat in the Hamptons with a huge red shark painted on it. And the owner just happens to be one of the 5 people put away by this guy years earlier. Only he says they buried the hatchet and were friends again. He can’t explain the blood on his boat, but he alibis out.

Our victim had used the mayor to get a helicopter pad on his property approved despite the complaints of his neighbor – a mobster. Against advice, Castle and Beckett have the mobster over for dinner, but that turns bad when he realizes what they really want to find out.

Finally, the pieces fall into place, and they figure out that the victim was using investment property in the city to make drugs that he was then selling in the Hamptons. And his partner was none other than the owner of the boat were our victim was shot. So he’s brought in for questioning again, only this time in New York. Ryan has him alone, and he mentions the people who have previously questioned him in the Hamptons. Ryan knew Castle was working the case, but he starts to ask about the female who was with him. The guy’s memory was fuzzy, but soon enough he is able to identify her as Beckett.

Back in the Hamptons, the sheriff has gotten a tip that the owner of the dock was a rival drug dealer who killed our victim for moving into his territory. He invites Castle and Beckett along on the arrest. Sure enough, all the evidence they need is there. Only as they are taking him away, Castle makes a discovery. The guy ties his boat up with excellent knots. The killer made sloppy knots when he retied the boat after killing our victim. Castle had tripped over them earlier, in fact. That’s when the deputy pulls his gun. He’s the real killer, and he planted the evidence to frame the dock owner. The chief shoots and wounds him, and he is arrested. Case closed.

Meanwhile, in between helping “Castle” work on this case, Ryan and Esposito have spent the episode trying to track down Beckett’s new secret boyfriend. They start with Lanie, who not only doesn’t know but wouldn’t tell if she did. Esposito is sure it is an old boyfriend, but they all check out. There is a very funny scene where they are talking to Castle on speaker phone about this with Kate listening in. She almost blows their cover they are annoying her so much.

It’s in the midst of this that Ryan learns the truth. His reaction is priceless. And then there’s the scene where he calls Castle with the information he got from interrogating the suspect, and Beckett is about to die trying to find out if he knows or not. Again, a very funny scene.

That part of the episode ends with Ryan trying to talk Esposito out of continuing to track the mystery boyfriend. I can’t wait to see how this is going to play out. Will Ryan do his best to pretend he doesn’t know and discourage Esposito? Or will he tease and torment the love birds every chance he gets? I think this is going to be a joy to watch.

Overall, definitely a light episode, but those are some of the best. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Next week, the show isn’t on for the final Presidential debate. So I’ll see you back here in two weeks as Castle becomes the prime suspect in a murder. Can’t wait.